Authors: C S Winchester
“
Then what happened?”
“
Then a boulder rigged to the contraption on the ceiling dropped and knocked me out again. When I came to, the girl was dead on the floor and once again, I had barely a drop of blood left in me. There were two women this time, I guess that perhaps I hadn't taken enough from one person to heal properly? I don't really know. Again I tried to get them to free me but it was impossible. Still not understanding what had happened, I fed again.”
“
Couldn't you smell Pietro?”
“
I could, but I didn't believe he was behind it; I thought that perhaps he was another victim. The boulder fell again soon afterwards and when I woke up, I was free.”
“
And the other two women?”
“
Dead. And brutalised. I hid the bodies then returned to my rooms to find that Pietro had left me a note, explaining that the ritual was to give him eternal life.”
“
Why didn't he kill you?” Frankie asked, trying not to sound insensitive.
“
Because the ritual bound him to me; as long as I live, so will he.”
“
Is that why you didn't go after him, because you can't kill him?”
“
Who said I didn't go after him? I tried for many years, but his note said that he was concealing his location using witchcraft. It must have been very effective, because I never found him. A few times I had good leads but Pietro was always gone by the time I got there.”
“
What were you going to do if you did catch up to him?”
“
Kill him. As well as what he'd done to me, I knew those women and they didn't have to die.”
“
But you can't kill him.” Frankie's voice was getting louder.
“
The ritual bound Pietro to me, not the other way around,” Dante reassured her, “If I die, he dies but if he dies, nothing happens to me.”
“
Thank God!” Frankie breathed a sigh of relief.
Dante wanted to lighten the mood with a quip, 'I never knew you cared,' or something along those lines, but he couldn't. She seemed genuinely pleased that he wasn't in danger and he couldn't ruin her mood.
“
So what happens now?” Frankie asked. “Does this ritual need repeating every hundred years or something?”
“
No. At least it shouldn't. I did as much research as I could on the possible rituals he used and it should be a one-time-only deal.”
“
Then why is he back?” Frankie asked.
“
I have no idea. Perhaps he performed the original spell incorrectly, or perhaps there are some cosmic forces that govern magic. Maybe three hundred years was an eternity to whomever wrote the spell.
“
Okay but why you? Why doesn't he choose another vampire?”
“
Because the rituals must be performed on blood kin, another vampire's blood wouldn't be any good to him.”
Frankie looked thoughtful for a moment.
“
What?” he asked.
“
I just can't figure out why a spell like that would even exist. I mean honestly, how many vampires out there make themselves known to their living relatives?”
“
Not many,” Dante agreed. “In fact though I researched extensively, I couldn't find one similar. It seems that the spell he must have used is a kind of amalgam. The half to increase life expectancy is usually performed on anyone and simply steals their life force, making them die much sooner than they would have naturally, while the witch gets to live a longer life. The second half is most likely a binding ritual, binding my life force to Pietro's. He's like a parasite, living off my energy.
“
But doesn't that do you any harm?” she asked.
“
It doesn't seem to have done so far.”
“
But he'll try again, won't he? From the impressions I've got off the things he touched, I think he's been searching for you for a while now.”
“
I could just leave until he dies,” Dante suggested, though he had no intention of doing any such thing.
“
But we don't even know why he needs you. Maybe something has gone wrong and the original spell was broken, meaning that he'll die soon, or it could be something new. Maybe this time he wants your speed and strength or something.”
“
Unfortunately there's no way to tell.”
“
Until we catch him,” Frankie added.
“
Tell me you're not going after him yourself?” Dante asked, but he could already tell that was exactly what she planned.
“
I have to. Besides, you're the one he wants, you should stay as far away from this investigation as possible.”
Ever since the day Pietro had freed him centuries ago, the images of those three girls who had been brutally murdered (and God only knew what else) had haunted him. Now though, there was a fourth girl in his mind, who wore Frankie's face.
“
Look, Frankie, I know I can't tell you what to do but please, don't go after him on your own.”
Frankie looked mutinous for a moment then finally nodded.
“
Okay, deal,” she agreed, though not very graciously. She had every intention of sticking with her case though, she'd just take Will along for the ride in daylight hours.
Just then she heard her parents moving about in the next room.
“
My folks are about, I'd better get up,” she said with a sigh.
“
Are you sure you don't need more sleep?”
“
I'm fine,” she smiled. “Now you get some sleep.”
Frankie let go of Dante's hand and slipped out of the bed.
“
Call me when you're awake again.” She smiled as she pulled on her robe and headed out of the room.
Frankie managed to down a mug of coffee before her mother bustled into the kitchen.
“
Good morning, darling,” Cecilia smiled.
“
Hi, Mum.”
“
How are you feeling this morning?”
“
I'm fine, honestly.”
“
Good,” she smiled as she sat opposite her daughter. “I wanted to speak to you, actually. I had a word with your father last night after we went to bed, and we've decided to move into a hotel.”
“
The damage is done, Mum, you might as well stay.”
“
Damage?” her mother sounded confused.
“
Yes, damage. You and Dad have left memories on everything you've touched since you got here, this was the only mug I found that you hadn't touched.”
“
Yes, well.” Clearly her mother was still having a hard time accepting Frankie's gift as real. “We didn't know, did we.”
Frankie supposed that was as close to an apology as she was going to get. She was tempted to say
'only because you didn't want to know,'
but she held her tongue. Accusations wouldn't help anyone.
“
So you wouldn't mind if we stayed?” her mother checked.
“
No, mum. But next time, you had better give me notice.”
“
We will, darling.”
Frankie smiled and went to make herself a fresh mug of coffee.
“
Where is your friend?” Cecilia asked.
“
Dante? He's asleep.”
“
I didn't see him in the living room.”
“
He's in my bed, Mum, but don't worry, nothing happened.”
“
So you can share your possessions with some people then?” she sounded affronted.
“
Dante's not like most people, Mum. He doesn't leave psychic impressions behind.”
Cecilia tried to stifle the scoff that escaped her but she wasn't entirely successful. Frankie sat back down opposite her.
“
Mum, I know that this is hard for you to accept, but there are a lot of things on this earth that are even weirder than I am.”
“
What are you trying to say?”
“
I'm trying to say that Dante is one of those things.”
“
Then what is he?”
“
That's up to him to tell you if he wants to but believe me, there is a whole spectrum of life just beyond what most people can see. Witches and demons and shapeshifters and zombies and ghosts... all sorts.”
“
Which one is Dante?” her mother asked, her expression half-terrified and half-amused.
“
I already said, it's up to Dante if he chooses to tell you, but suffice to say that he'll probably go down in your boyfriend estimation.”
“
I wish you wouldn't talk in riddles.”
“
And I wish you wouldn't quote scripture.”
The mention of the
Bi
ble seemingly brought back their earlier discussion about Cecilia's abortion.
“
It's guilt,” she confessed. “I thought that if I lived a righteous life, God might forgive me for what I did.”
“
I'm sure he will forgive you, because even I can tell how sorry you are but... well just because you're living right now, doesn't give you the right to sit in judgement of other people. It was Jesus who said
'let he who is without sin cast the first stone'
and we both know that you are not without sin.”
“
Don't say it like that,” her mother looked tearful again.
“
Don't turn on the waterworks, Mum. You did wrong, or at least you think that you did, but you know what? So does everyone from time to time. I would have thought that you would be more understanding of others' mistakes having made your own.”
Cecilia actually looked a little shamed by her daughter's words.
“
Anyway, I have to go to work so whatever you do, don't wake Dante. He was up half the night.”
“
What on earth for?”
“
I wasn't the only one who had a rough time of things yesterday, okay? Just leave him be.”
Though she clearly wanted more information, Cecilia nodded.
“
Do you and Dad have any plans for today?”
“
We thought we'd do a little shopping.”
“
That sounds nice,” Frankie smiled. “Anyway, I'd better get ready for work, so have a nice day.”
“
Thank you, sweetheart, we will.”
Chapter Seventeen
Will was sitting at his desk, seething after a dressing down from the Chief Superintendent. As far as his boss was concerned, Will had simply been sitting on his hands for the past few days, and his inability to solve this case quickly was drawing more heat from the national press, not helped by the fact that the necropsy findings on the killed animals had somehow been leaked to the press.
To make things worse, since he couldn't reveal the source of the sketch of Pietro, he had been stopped from releasing it and right now, that was his only lead.
Added to that, Frankie seemed to have dumped him for her vampire friend, so now Will was just about ready to snap at the next person who crossed him.
There came a knock on his door and he called for them to come in. He was surprised when he saw Frankie poke her head into his office.
“
Judging by that tone, should I come back later?” she asked, a hesitant smile on her lips.
“
No,” Will said with a sigh. “Come on in.”
As Frankie seated herself opposite him, Will explained about his meeting with the Chief Superintendent earlier, and how he'd been stopped from releasing her sketch to the public.
“
Then I'll release it,” she offered.
“
To the press?” he sounded sceptical since MI5 weren't known for releasing pictures of suspects, lest they tip off said suspects that they were on to them.
“
No, to the police. I'll issue an all ports warning, so the details are sent to the police and airports etcetera. It's not quite as effective as the national press but it's better than nothing. Plus, being MI5, we don't have to release details of their suspected crimes.”
“
Okay,” he agreed. “It's better than nothing. How about you; how are you feeling?”
“
I'm fine, honestly.” After taking Dante's blood she felt better than fine, but she didn't think Will would appreciate knowing that, so she glossed over it.
“
And how are things with your folks?”
“
Good, I think,” she smiled tentatively. “It's early days, but Mum seems to be making a real effort.”